Static Bytes

Static Bytes was formed in early 1990, and in May that same year they released their first demo, the STB Megademo. This demo featured coding by a young and talented coder named Armalyte. He would later change his handle to Sunjohn, and later again to Hannibal, eventually becoming one of the most recognized and highly ranked coders in the Amiga scene.

After releasing 14 issues, The Crusaderss decided to discontinue their popular chart, The Eurochart. Although several diskmags had their own charts, and the German group Jump released their World Charts, the scene still hungered for an “official” and widely recognized chart. Initially, Kefrens and Staic Bytes took on the task as a joint project, but Kefrens later withdrew from the agreement, leaving Static Bytes to continue on their own. The final “go-ahead” from The Crusaders was given, and on July 28th, 1992, at the Hurrican & Brutal Summer Party in Denmark, the first issue of the “new” Eurochart (issue #15) was released. The main editor, Estrup, would later go on to work as a professional journalist for a Danish computer magazine. Static Bytes continued to release 13 issues of The Eurochart before passing it on to Depth in 1995.

Although primarily a Danish group, Static Bytes also had several talented foreign members. In 1991/92, Norwegian artist TMB Designs was a member, and in 1992/93 fellow Norwegian artist Sauron joined, later winning the graphics competition at The Gathering in 1992. In 1994/95, German artist Friendly became a member and created the impressive GUI for Eurochart #27, STB’s final issue.

Sources:
- Various productions by Static Bytes
- Numerous Amiga diskmagazines
- Amiga Scenery by Glenn Lunder